Trying to perfect an english barleywine!

Steve973 · 10-12-2007, 04:26 AM

Hey all,

It has been a while since I last posted, but I have not given up on brewing at all. So far, my best beer has been a slight approximation of an English barleywine. My friend and I had originally intended to brew an ESB, but I bought a lot of extra Maris Otter pale malt, and we decided to use all of it and make a stronger beer. Here is what we used:

15.0 lbs Maris Otter Pale
3.0 lbs Belgian Biscuit
2.0 lbs 40L Crystal
1.0 oz Northern Brewer @ 60 minutes
1.0 oz Northern Brewer @ 45 minutes
1.0 oz Kent Goldings @ 30 minutes
1.0 oz Kent Goldings @ 15 minutes

Specs:
OG 1.090
FG 1.023
Color 18.0 SRM
Alcohol 9%
Bitterness 72 IBU

This beer is certainly clean and tasty, but it lacks the malt aroma and flavor of a real English barleywine, and it could use a bit more mouthfeel to be truer to the style. JW Lee's Harvest Ale, in its many incarnations, is a good inspiration for an English barleywine. Mine definitely lacks the caramel/toffee/raisin flavor that makes Lee's so interesting. I'm thinking of ramping the base malt up to about 18 lbs and adding a bunch more crystal. Any other suggestions?

Steve973 · 10-16-2007, 04:40 PM

Have any of you made some super tasty barleywines?

**bradsul** · 10-16-2007, 05:23 PM

I haven't made any but I definitely want to. I just have a backlog of stuff to brew before I can get there. I'm also having trouble sourcing an english pale malt for a reasonable price (I don't want to do it with north american standard 2-row).

Your recipe looks great (I love EKG so anything with lots of that appeals to me

). I think the only change I might make is some dark crystal (120L maybe) to get some nice raisin or toffee flavours.

Steve973 · 10-17-2007, 02:11 AM

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, that was our first attempt, and it's definitely a tasty homebrew, but it really doesn't capture what makes a real English barleywine so great. It lacks the intense malty aroma and intense malty flavor of the style. It also needs more mouthfeel. I am currently reformulating the recipe, and this is what I have so far:

18 lbs Maris Otter Pale
2 lb 40L Crystal
2 lb 60L Crystal
1 lb 120L Crystal
1 lb Carapils
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 50
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 40
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 30
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 20
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 10
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 0

Projected Stats, assuming 75% efficiency and 75% attenuation:
OG: 1.114
FG: 1.028
Color: 24 SRM
Alcohol: 11.4%
Bitterness: 60 IBU

I'm going to boil down 7.23 gallons for 90 minutes in order to end up with 5.5 gallons after chilling. The variety and amount of crystal malt makes it a little bit too dark for the style, but I hope this is the right amount to give the flavors that I like so much in a JW Lee's Harvest Ale. At 11.5% alcohol, I'm not quite sure what to do for carbonating bottles of this stuff, or what yeast would be good for fermentation, for that matter. All opinions and advice are welcome!

brett · 10-17-2007, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve973

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, that was our first attempt, and it's definitely a tasty homebrew, but it really doesn't capture what makes a real English barleywine so great. It lacks the intense malty aroma and intense malty flavor of the style. It also needs more mouthfeel. I am currently reformulating the recipe, and this is what I have so far:

18 lbs Maris Otter Pale
2 lb 40L Crystal
2 lb 60L Crystal
1 lb 120L Crystal
1 lb Carapils
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 60
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 50
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 40
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 30
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 20
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 10
1 oz East Kent Goldings @ 0

Projected Stats, assuming 75% efficiency and 75% attenuation:
OG: 1.114
FG: 1.028
Color: 24 SRM
Alcohol: 11.4%
Bitterness: 60 IBU

I'm going to boil down 7.23 gallons for 90 minutes in order to end up with 5.5 gallons after chilling. The variety and amount of crystal malt makes it a little bit too dark for the style, but I hope this is the right amount to give the flavors that I like so much in a JW Lee's Harvest Ale. At 11.5% alcohol, I'm not quite sure what to do for carbonating bottles of this stuff, or what yeast would be good for fermentation, for that matter. All opinions and advice are welcome!

You may want to consider backing off a wee bit on the heavy use of Crystal malt. Guidelines caution against using more than 20% crystal in a batch.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Crystal_120

I recommend throwing in other malts that contribute different things to the beer, offering a more complex brew with many pleasing subtleties.

Here's an idea:

Color: 56 HCU (~24 SRM)
Bitterness: 57 IBU
OG: 1.114
FG: 1.028
Alcohol: 11.1%

Grain:
18 lb. American 2-row
2 lb. American crystal 120L
1 lb. Dextrine malt (Cara-Pils)
1 lb. German Munich
1 lb. Belgian biscuit

Mash: 75% efficiency
Boil: 90 minutes SG 1.087 7.23 gallons

Hops:
2 oz. Kent Goldings (5.5% AA, 60 min.)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (5.5% AA, 45 min.)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (5.5% AA, 30 min.)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (5.5% AA, 15 min.)
1 oz. Kent Goldings (aroma)

Take a look at the following table to see what malts contribute.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart

Ryanh1801 · 10-17-2007, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve973

Have any of you made some super tasty barleywines?

Brewpastors Water to Barleywine, is an amazing beer. its in the database.

Steve973 · 10-17-2007, 03:52 PM

Specifically, what kind of flavors does the maple syrup impart to the finished beer?

Ryanh1801 · 10-17-2007, 06:06 PM

it will add a dry, woodsy flavor, cant say I really detected it. Although I have only had one of them so far. letting the rest age for a while. I think I am gonna brew it again and gonna try Muscovado sugar and maybe some homemade caramel, in replacement for the maple syrup.